Affiliate links: Use discount code: bradcagle for 4% off Redodo 2000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter : bit.ly/47Ue7hH Redodo 12v 100Ah mini Battery: bit.ly/3LaDAJP Amazon Affiliate links: Redodo MINI Battery 100Ah: amzn.to/3P44F4l Midea U Shaped 12000BTU AC Unit: amzn.to/43xiXPm ================ AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: This channel may earn an affiliate commission if you purchase products through links I provide. ================ CONTACT: bradcagleyt@gmail.com Business/Collaboration only. Please do not contact me for for personal project help, or advice. ================ DISCLAIMER: These videos are documenting my own projects, and experiences. These projects, and activities can be dangerous. Do not try any of this at home, doing so will be at your own risk.
The display showed the battery voltage dipping below 11V. Their 1000W inverter has low voltage protection at 10V. Perhaps the voltage was intermittently dropping below the loa voltage threshold causing the chirping. Could be a battery issue instead of an inverter issue. As far as the internal cables, copper wires actually have a very high capacity, it is just that the insulation has limits. Active cooling from the fans should take care of that, but it does turn those wires into little heaters which will reduce the efficiency at higher loads. I would like to see companies use variable-speed fans. For many loads just a slow fan would provide enough cooling while keeping noise levels low. Instead, inverter fans typically are either fully on or off. That leads to inverters running without the fan for a few minutes with 10 to 15 second bursts of a loud fan noise. They should do better. I would also like to see inverters incorporate heatpipe technology with cases designed for heat dissipation, thus reducing the need for fans. Combine that with variable-speed fans and inverters would be nice and quiet. Though the fan isn't overly loud, the noise becomes annoying after a while. Appreciate the review.
I'm wondering if the pure sign wave craps out or gets a little funky looking under the high load of the AC and creates some kind of weird feedback the Inverter doesn't like. You don't need a pure sign wave to run the Heat gun or the Blower so the "Cricket" was behaving.
Thanks for uploading your experience with this inverter. I have two 100AH batteries from Redodo paired with a Kreiger 2000W PSW inverter I got last October. It hasn't seen any substantial use at all. It has only been used to charge some power tool batteries so the unit is basically on stand by in case of a power outage emergencies and we need to run some AC or small heater and medical equipment. I went o charge up some batteries last week and it failed to turn on and it just died. I packed it up to send it in for repair or replacement warranty and paid $60 to ship it and insured it for the purchase price of $300. I can't believe the Kreiger just crapped out after not even being run on any big loads at all smh. I was looking at the Redodo unit but after watching this and it chirping like that, it's made me 2nd guess it buying it now.
Wow, bummer on that. My two most used, and oldest inverters are a Reliable brand 24v 3000w, and a Leesky 12v 1500w. I've had 0 issues from these inverters.
It’s because AC units have bad power factors due to being the inductive load and you are using a 2000 watt High Frequency inverter. HF inverters work well with resistive loads, but they do not handle inductive loads well. To fix, either get a larger high wattage HF frequency inverter, say about 3000 watts. Or switch to a Low frequency inverter around 2000 to 3000 watts.
I suspect this aircon is one of those midea inverter jobs, similar to their in window units. If anything the unit would appear as a harmonic capacitive load to the inverter but it probably has some type of power factor correction in it. Even if it is a line driven compressor it will again likely have power factor correction via a capacitor.
I looked around for awhile before I settled on the Energizer EP2000, which is ETL Approved Under UL STD 458. In my opinion these inverters just don't seem all that safe. You should test the Energizer EP2000 if you get a chance.
I think the voltage standard in the US is 120 volts. If I had gotten that inverter set for 110, I'd return it. Remember, the brand name means nothing. Just about all the Chinese stuff is made by just a few manufacturers and slap a label on it.
Really good video. I have seen that issue with many different inverters and loads. I like the cables they supply looks like some companies are listing 😊
Yeah, about time a company actually supplies a cable that is capable of handling the load, was a surprise. Ok so you've seen the weird load behavior, oh that's right I think you had that with an air pump on the ampeak inverter, right?
This inverter is nothing more than a rebranded inverter sold on Amazon under various brand. I have a 1500w from "Luborn". If you search "PrtnrTek" you will see the exact same inverter. My 1500w has been actually very steady. I ran an air fryer and that sucker will run ~1500w. I did run it for close to 10 mins so your 2000w unit is probably defective. I also had this inverter running a full size fridge 24/7 and I had no problem.
This is a power factor issue. The AC unit is using more power than shown. This problem is common with a High Frequency (HF) inverter - they don’t like induction loads. Move to a low frequency (LF) inverter.
A lot of people have been bringing up the PF of the aircon (ie stating it is a heavy inductive load). Any chance of the model # of the aircon so we can look up what design it is, line / inverter operated compressor and see if there is any PFC in the unit? A kill-a-watt type plug in power meter will usually tell you the power factor, so you can report the PF at different cooling settings.
@@BradCagle OK, so it's an inverter type. That rules out inductive PF but it could well have cap+harmonic. I'll look into that if you don't beat me to it with a watt meter.
@@BradCagleNo official documentation about PFC but I have found reports around 0.85. Specs says 1.2kW (about 10A) peak in cooling mode. It should be draw around 12A with that PF. The inverter should be good for 16A. From the description the aircon does have harmonic issues and that would increase the short term current but it should still be within the capabilities of the inverter without it sounding an alarm. All of this is educated guesses since there is no official documentation about this in the user's manual. Someone with a power analyser would be able to tell straight away. A wattmeter probably won't reveal the details of harmonic draw but it would indicate approximate PF.
Any inverter that won’t output a steady 115V is garbage… 120 should be the goal. Most routinely drop below 110V, yours showed 103V at one point. Most likely the meager pair of #8 conductors is heating up, and drastically limiting current from the battery.
I think the inverters without a true ground seem to have problems with certain loads. A guy was telling me they kinda need a earth ground for refrence so they can build their signwave consistently at different load levels. I have a cobra 1500 from a truck stop and that little inverter has troubles like that with some stuff
No, that's not true. No connection to the earth we walk on is needed at all. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this Re-dodo inverter is just another cheap piece of junk (sorry folks, that's how it rolls) and is hitting its actual continuous rating. The 2000W is probably some BS such as 'peak rating' for 20mS. How can it be that the front panel is not showing any alarms when the unit is doing that weird beep? Simple. The front panel display is usually, not always!, just usually completely unrelated to the control circuitry. It's just there as a window for you to look through to see how the inverter is allegedly performing. What the control board in the inverter (usually the smarts are on a separate vertical daughter board) sees and reacts to can be completely different. Of course, this could just be a 'faulty' unit.
Another very informative video. It seems like a decent price for that inverter. I have 3 of the Redodo mini batterries which I have hooked in series for my 36v trolling motor. They work great for that application. I have an Amped Outdoors bluetooth battery monitor installed, with the series configuration, to help monitor the state of charge. With all the products that Redodo has come out with so far, I wonder if they have thought about making a bluetooth battery shunt/monitor? I did inquire with them about the possibility of a marine starting battery as well. It would be nice to replace my current AGM starting/house battery with lithium. I do know there are several other options to fill that need, but it would be nice to have all the same brand if possible...🤞😎
I actually have my 2 wires connected to one battery(with 2 in parallel) for 5+ months and the system is flawless. Until I see someone prove it to me otherwise that it's bad I will leave my connections as that.
@@thesolarjunkie well even though most appliances have tolerances , 115 to 120 volt output is even better, been living totally off grid since 2000, 36 x 405 watt panels
The beeper is likely driven by the PWM card seen at 1:51, that vertical daughterboard next to the heatsink. What is shown on the front panel will very likely have nothing to do with what the PWM card is getting up to. The AC voltage will probably be monitored by the front panel directly with a resistor divider and the watts computed using that in combination with perhaps a CT/shunt on the live AC wire or by the shunt on the H bridge that the PWM card uses to tell if something is going wrong. It is often possible to disconnect the front panel and have the inverter continue to function completely normally in all respects including protection (of course don't do this if you don't understand the thing fully).
No, when the power is converted to AC, 15 amps will give you 1800 Watts at 120 v AC. For 12 volts DC to supply the power up to the inverter, higher amperage is required. That's why large wire and more than 100 amps BMS is needed to support up to 2000 watts.
Each one is rated for 18a per the manual, that would be 1980w. Also I just checked they have continuity between both receptacles, this means they are wired to a common spot on the board, and there is nothing capable of monitoring each individually. Thanks!
Yea, it seems to run everything perfectly fine when it's new, but give it a few months of running inductive loads and I guarantee you this low cost, high frequency, transformerless inverter will become a brick and can even damage your appliances by passing high voltage, high amperage, DC current to your loads. High frequency, output transformer free inverters are not designed to run inductive loads like microwave ovens, large power tools, portable AC units or motors. You may be able to start and run some of these loads when this unit is new, but every time you do, you're damaging the cheap Chinese made MOSFETs and capacitors in these inverters. I've spent the past 23 years in the inverter repair industry and can tell you from experience that no high frequency inverter exists on the market will last more than a year when exposed to high inductance loads. If you want an inverter that's going to last 8 tob10 years+, then spend some more money and invest in a low frequency, transformer based inverter.
Felt like a snake oil sales job for a free inverter. What other inverters have issues when running your AC unit on high? What did REDODO say about the mystery chirp? What does the chirp indicate? Is it expected? Did you test out their customer service? The cables on the inside were obviously undersized. Why did you sweep that one under the rug? You have a thermal camera. Why no stress test near max load then look at those cables to see how they handle ~200 amps?
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I realized I got off track with the chirp, that was unexpected, and really turned the focus. I'm going to do a follow up video
Affiliate links:
Use discount code: bradcagle for 4% off
Redodo 2000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter : bit.ly/47Ue7hH
Redodo 12v 100Ah mini Battery: bit.ly/3LaDAJP
Amazon Affiliate links:
Redodo MINI Battery 100Ah: amzn.to/3P44F4l
Midea U Shaped 12000BTU AC Unit: amzn.to/43xiXPm
================
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: This channel may earn an affiliate commission if you purchase products through links I provide.
================
CONTACT: bradcagleyt@gmail.com
Business/Collaboration only. Please do not contact me for for personal project help, or advice.
================
DISCLAIMER: These videos are documenting my own projects, and experiences. These projects, and activities can be dangerous. Do not try any of this at home, doing so will be at your own risk.
Some inverters don't like inductive loads. Check the PFC with the A/C on with a PF meter.
Be interested in seeing the P.F on that A/C unit as the settings change especially.
Follow up coming, hang tight!
The display showed the battery voltage dipping below 11V. Their 1000W inverter has low voltage protection at 10V. Perhaps the voltage was intermittently dropping below the loa voltage threshold causing the chirping. Could be a battery issue instead of an inverter issue. As far as the internal cables, copper wires actually have a very high capacity, it is just that the insulation has limits. Active cooling from the fans should take care of that, but it does turn those wires into little heaters which will reduce the efficiency at higher loads. I would like to see companies use variable-speed fans. For many loads just a slow fan would provide enough cooling while keeping noise levels low. Instead, inverter fans typically are either fully on or off. That leads to inverters running without the fan for a few minutes with 10 to 15 second bursts of a loud fan noise. They should do better. I would also like to see inverters incorporate heatpipe technology with cases designed for heat dissipation, thus reducing the need for fans. Combine that with variable-speed fans and inverters would be nice and quiet. Though the fan isn't overly loud, the noise becomes annoying after a while. Appreciate the review.
Thanks for the feedback!
Looks like they are jumping in the game as a one-stop shop like Renogy
Seems so. Makes sense. Thanks!
@@thesolarjunkie which makes me wonder....is there an even cheaper brand name we can get this stuff under?
I'm wondering if the pure sign wave craps out or gets a little funky looking under the high load of the AC and creates some kind of weird feedback the Inverter doesn't like. You don't need a pure sign wave to run the Heat gun or the Blower so the "Cricket" was behaving.
Thanks for uploading your experience with this inverter. I have two 100AH batteries from Redodo paired with a Kreiger 2000W PSW inverter I got last October. It hasn't seen any substantial use at all. It has only been used to charge some power tool batteries so the unit is basically on stand by in case of a power outage emergencies and we need to run some AC or small heater and medical equipment. I went o charge up some batteries last week and it failed to turn on and it just died. I packed it up to send it in for repair or replacement warranty and paid $60 to ship it and insured it for the purchase price of $300. I can't believe the Kreiger just crapped out after not even being run on any big loads at all smh. I was looking at the Redodo unit but after watching this and it chirping like that, it's made me 2nd guess it buying it now.
Wow, bummer on that. My two most used, and oldest inverters are a Reliable brand 24v 3000w, and a Leesky 12v 1500w. I've had 0 issues from these inverters.
World's first Morse Code inverter!
LOL :) Ok we need to decode it, could be aliens trying to contact us.
It’s because AC units have bad power factors due to being the inductive load and you are using a 2000 watt High Frequency inverter. HF inverters work well with resistive loads, but they do not handle inductive loads well. To fix, either get a larger high wattage HF frequency inverter, say about 3000 watts. Or switch to a Low frequency inverter around 2000 to 3000 watts.
I suspect this aircon is one of those midea inverter jobs, similar to their in window units. If anything the unit would appear as a harmonic capacitive load to the inverter but it probably has some type of power factor correction in it. Even if it is a line driven compressor it will again likely have power factor correction via a capacitor.
@@retrozmachine1189 It is a Midea u shaped 12000 btu window unit.
The chirping could be due to it having problems with the inductive load from the AC motor at high cool setting.
Hey mate,for a 12V battery you need to use a 7 Ohm 50W resistor.👍
tell you i love the white and blue on this inverter. now only the solar charger was the same color scheme
I do like the color scheme too. Yeah it would be clean if the MPPT controller was white with blue, rather than mostly blue with white letters. Thanks
Don't like the 110vac ,my cpap doesn't run well on 110v, maybe the A.C. doesn't like it either
I looked around for awhile before I settled on the Energizer EP2000, which is ETL Approved Under UL STD 458. In my opinion these inverters just don't seem all that safe. You should test the Energizer EP2000 if you get a chance.
I think the voltage standard in the US is 120 volts. If I had gotten that inverter set for 110, I'd return it. Remember, the brand name means nothing. Just about all the Chinese stuff is made by just a few manufacturers and slap a label on it.
Really good video. I have seen that issue with many different inverters and loads. I like the cables they supply looks like some companies are listing 😊
Yeah, about time a company actually supplies a cable that is capable of handling the load, was a surprise. Ok so you've seen the weird load behavior, oh that's right I think you had that with an air pump on the ampeak inverter, right?
@@BradCagle Yep, I've also seen it when trying to run a battery charger off an inverter.
This inverter is nothing more than a rebranded inverter sold on Amazon under various brand. I have a 1500w from "Luborn". If you search "PrtnrTek" you will see the exact same inverter. My 1500w has been actually very steady. I ran an air fryer and that sucker will run ~1500w. I did run it for close to 10 mins so your 2000w unit is probably defective. I also had this inverter running a full size fridge 24/7 and I had no problem.
This is a power factor issue. The AC unit is using more power than shown. This problem is common with a High Frequency (HF) inverter - they don’t like induction loads. Move to a low frequency (LF) inverter.
The ac is not constant and keeps bumping the watt load hence the chirps. A cold star capictor would solve that
This is an inverter compressor A/C, it does the soft start already.
Your voltage is dropping below 110.
I think I saw it get down to 106.
Something to do with the type of load. A/C is probably internally trying to regulate itself
A lot of people have been bringing up the PF of the aircon (ie stating it is a heavy inductive load). Any chance of the model # of the aircon so we can look up what design it is, line / inverter operated compressor and see if there is any PFC in the unit?
A kill-a-watt type plug in power meter will usually tell you the power factor, so you can report the PF at different cooling settings.
It's a Midea u shaped 12000 btu inverter A/C
@@BradCagle OK, so it's an inverter type. That rules out inductive PF but it could well have cap+harmonic. I'll look into that if you don't beat me to it with a watt meter.
@@BradCagleNo official documentation about PFC but I have found reports around 0.85. Specs says 1.2kW (about 10A) peak in cooling mode. It should be draw around 12A with that PF. The inverter should be good for 16A. From the description the aircon does have harmonic issues and that would increase the short term current but it should still be within the capabilities of the inverter without it sounding an alarm.
All of this is educated guesses since there is no official documentation about this in the user's manual. Someone with a power analyser would be able to tell straight away. A wattmeter probably won't reveal the details of harmonic draw but it would indicate approximate PF.
@@retrozmachine1189 Thanks for the great info! I have a kilawatt, I might hook it up to check the PF.
Any inverter that won’t output a steady 115V is garbage… 120 should be the goal. Most routinely drop below 110V, yours showed 103V at one point.
Most likely the meager pair of #8 conductors is heating up, and drastically limiting current from the battery.
I think the inverters without a true ground seem to have problems with certain loads. A guy was telling me they kinda need a earth ground for refrence so they can build their signwave consistently at different load levels. I have a cobra 1500 from a truck stop and that little inverter has troubles like that with some stuff
No, that's not true. No connection to the earth we walk on is needed at all. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this Re-dodo inverter is just another cheap piece of junk (sorry folks, that's how it rolls) and is hitting its actual continuous rating. The 2000W is probably some BS such as 'peak rating' for 20mS.
How can it be that the front panel is not showing any alarms when the unit is doing that weird beep? Simple. The front panel display is usually, not always!, just usually completely unrelated to the control circuitry. It's just there as a window for you to look through to see how the inverter is allegedly performing. What the control board in the inverter (usually the smarts are on a separate vertical daughter board) sees and reacts to can be completely different.
Of course, this could just be a 'faulty' unit.
Another very informative video. It seems like a decent price for that inverter. I have 3 of the Redodo mini batterries which I have hooked in series for my 36v trolling motor. They work great for that application. I have an Amped Outdoors bluetooth battery monitor installed, with the series configuration, to help monitor the state of charge.
With all the products that Redodo has come out with so far, I wonder if they have thought about making a bluetooth battery shunt/monitor?
I did inquire with them about the possibility of a marine starting battery as well. It would be nice to replace my current AGM starting/house battery with lithium. I do know there are several other options to fill that need, but it would be nice to have all the same brand if possible...🤞😎
Thanks! Yeah I agree, a redodo shunt would fill the gap.
Nice review.
Thanks!
I actually have my 2 wires connected to one battery(with 2 in parallel) for 5+ months and the system is flawless. Until I see someone prove it to me otherwise that it's bad I will leave my connections as that.
Obviously it still works, but your batteries won't be discharging and charging equally
@@Lewythefly Batteries are like 2 containers of water. They will constantly keep each other balanced.
@@Golfreak all you need to do is Google it
👍👌❤️🇨🇦, gr8 review, but woukd have liked the inverter voltage to be between 115 and 120
@@thesolarjunkie well even though most appliances have tolerances , 115 to 120 volt output is even better, been living totally off grid since 2000, 36 x 405 watt panels
If no error conditions were being flagged, my guess is the buzzer software is buggy.
Ben, that was really my thought the whole time.
The beeper is likely driven by the PWM card seen at 1:51, that vertical daughterboard next to the heatsink. What is shown on the front panel will very likely have nothing to do with what the PWM card is getting up to. The AC voltage will probably be monitored by the front panel directly with a resistor divider and the watts computed using that in combination with perhaps a CT/shunt on the live AC wire or by the shunt on the H bridge that the PWM card uses to tell if something is going wrong. It is often possible to disconnect the front panel and have the inverter continue to function completely normally in all respects including protection (of course don't do this if you don't understand the thing fully).
Its a brilliant price! Shame it's USA only I'm in UK
Great video. Do you have Kill-A-Watt so you can see what the VA is?
Yes, follow up video coming.
Each outlet is only rated for so many amps. You're exceeding the amps on the one outlet.
Very good point!
No, when the power is converted to AC, 15 amps will give you 1800 Watts at 120 v AC. For 12 volts DC to supply the power up to the inverter, higher amperage is required. That's why large wire and more than 100 amps BMS is needed to support up to 2000 watts.
Each one is rated for 18a per the manual, that would be 1980w. Also I just checked they have continuity between both receptacles, this means they are wired to a common spot on the board, and there is nothing capable of monitoring each individually. Thanks!
Is it from the ac compressor kicking on pulling too much after fans blowing on high spiking the inverter? put the sensor on the ac?
Yea, it seems to run everything perfectly fine when it's new, but give it a few months of running inductive loads and I guarantee you this low cost, high frequency, transformerless inverter will become a brick and can even damage your appliances by passing high voltage, high amperage, DC current to your loads. High frequency, output transformer free inverters are not designed to run inductive loads like microwave ovens, large power tools, portable AC units or motors. You may be able to start and run some of these loads when this unit is new, but every time you do, you're damaging the cheap Chinese made MOSFETs and capacitors in these inverters. I've spent the past 23 years in the inverter repair industry and can tell you from experience that no high frequency inverter exists on the market will last more than a year when exposed to high inductance loads. If you want an inverter that's going to last 8 tob10 years+, then spend some more money and invest in a low frequency, transformer based inverter.
I have a high frequency inverter that's been running a 12000 BTU A/C going on 3 years now.
Please do a review on the Redodo DC-DC charger / MPPT controller
I've seen that gadget. I'll ask them. Thanks
@@BradCagle Great, like to get you perspective on it, appreciate your reply .
Sir: Could it be that the A/C unit takes more volt-amps than 2000? Mr. @nthenet, I think that Redodo unit is high frequency.
A T Burke
Felt like a snake oil sales job for a free inverter.
What other inverters have issues when running your AC unit on high? What did REDODO say about the mystery chirp? What does the chirp indicate? Is it expected? Did you test out their customer service?
The cables on the inside were obviously undersized. Why did you sweep that one under the rug? You have a thermal camera. Why no stress test near max load then look at those cables to see how they handle ~200 amps?
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I realized I got off track with the chirp, that was unexpected, and really turned the focus. I'm going to do a follow up video
@@BradCagle thanks for the follow up video!
Hello wsh is thé n’est 24v inverter test you can recommend to me ?
Thank you very much
I've used this one amzn.to/44BDHVJ for 2 years, and it works great.
1000w inverter.
Oscilloscope?
Yeah, I need one :) I'll get one ordered
DOOD!
You can’t use this on a 24v battery 😢
No, it's 12v only.
well there's your problem its made in China
All of that yet you didn't think to contact the company and see if they had any answers or comments?
They watched the video, and had no answers or comments regarding the chirping. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ They did however comment on how great the video was :)
No UL listed = short lifespan & catastrophic failure